B Team 17/18: Facing up to Italian Giants

After a September of ups and downs, October got off to a bad start for Brentford's second squad. A 5-2 defeat to Rangers at Jersey Road was how The Bees began the month.

The big story in the run up to the game was the inclusion of Rangers forward and Scottish international Kenny Miller, unpopular with the First Team boss and made to play with the reserves. The news brought a big crowd to the usually quiet environment of the Brentford Training Ground, the majority of spectators fans of the Scottish outfit.

The game was out of sight by half-time. Rangers had a three-goal lead by the break thanks to Ryan Hardie, Aaron Nemane and James Barjonas. Bradley Clayton and Theo Archibald scored in the second half but it wasn't enough to spark a comeback as Hardie added two more to complete his hat-trick.

Next up at Jersey Road was an Exeter City XI made up of some older players as well as youngsters. Brentford followed suit with their own lineup containing Luke Daniels, Josh McEachran, Lewis Macleod, John Egan and Lasse Vibe.

Despite this improved fire power, neither side could come up with a winner and the final whistle signalled the first 0-0 draw of the season.

The next stop for the squad was a trip to Manchester to face a young City side, the final result being a complete turnover of their first match that month. Joe Hardy was the star of the show, a former City youngster, as he cashed in a hat-trick. Herson Alves and Theo Archibald added the other goals, while former Bee Ian Carlo Poveda netted one for City.

Then Kevin O'Connor's side were off to Italy to play football in Milan.

Atalanta were the first team that Italy had to offer The Bees on tour. A game played on an artificial pitch in the evening sunshine ended in a 2-2 draw. Raphael Assibey-Mensah notched the first with a mazy run through the back line, then Joe Hardy and Bradley Clayton combined for the second to draw things level before the end.

Inter Milan and AC Milan then followed for O'Connor's boys. AC came first, followed by a visit to the San Siro for the squad to watch the First Team play Genoa. Then Inter were up last on the final day of the tour.

AC's youngsters put up a brave fight and worried The Bees throughout the match. Brentford got off to a lightning start when Jan Novak, Theo Archibald and Bradley Clayton had all scored within the first quarter of an hour. AC were stunned but fought back to score, only for Archibald to find the net again before half-time. In the second half it was all AC Milan, and two goals after 77 minutes had The Bees scrambling for the win. They held on, and came away victors after a dramatic ending.

Inter Milan finished the tour and Brentford had several new faces to thank for the victory. Flown out especially to get some game time, Lewis Macleod and Sergi Canos were joined by Justin Shaibu to play in the final match.

Shaibu, Canos and Archibald were on the score sheet on that last day, getting all of Brentford's goals in the first half before Inter netted a late consolation.